SnakeSkins and down underquilts?

[koaloha05]

Test hanging in a Hennessy ULBP 10C, 12-15knot breeze was cold. So after too many hours on the net I spent the big $$s on a down undercover. Choice was between the Speers and JRB. Both seem to be great products. Went with the JRB Nest and WeatherShield combo. Net weight and bulk gain with leaving the Z-pad at home would be about zero. Plus for me comfort gained.

Don't own a set skins yet. Hoping the skins would make setup in wind simpler and protect the hammock & undercover from rain. Figured with skins the normal set-up would be setup tarp, then under the shelter of the tarp hang and unskin the hammock.

Question about using SnakeSkins #4 and the compression factor on the Nest. Concern is the degree of compression and long term stress on the Nest. For the time you are on the trail would this compression result in more rapid wear and tear vs. stuffing the Nest in its provided stuff sac?

[sk8rs_dad]

I had to expend too much effort trying to get a nest w/ HH Explorer Deluxe and hex tarp into the #4 skins. It fits but there is a lot of squeezing and tugging required to get the skins on. The resulting bundle is hard to fold up into a manageable bundle.

I switched to the blackbishop's sack approach with an old compression sack I had lying around. It works way better.

[Dutch]

I second that on the BB bag. In any case you have to store the quilt loose and it would be a pain to get it out of the skins when it isn't suspended.

[Take-a-knee]

Skins are so last year. Blackbishop sacks are the new wave, the only way to go.

[FanaticFringer]

Skins are right now. I love em. Would not use then for an underquilt. I've tried it and I dont like the stress is puts on the quilt. I'm sure a BB sack would work well or just use the JRB stuff sack.

[winger]

I really like the skins approach. Using the #4's I'm able to get the overcover, the undercover (minus the HH pad) and the new JRB WS2 all in one neat package. Really simplifies packing and especially unpacking, setting up. I have the Nest but I don't try to have it contained by the skins. Much easier just to unclip it, and put in a stuff sack along with the overquilt.

[slowhike]

the trick is to just make your own skins & make them big enough to slide easy over the hammock & underquilt.
then you don't end up w/ that stiff, rigid, "hard to put into the pack" sausage of a package when the hammock & underquilt is in the skins.
the skins will still be loose enough to let it squish down into the pack.

[6 feet over]

Some skins will be one of my first projects once I learn to use my freshly ‘liberated’ sewing machine.

How exactly do you guys use them? Separate skins for your tarp & your hammock? Or both stuffed in there together?

[T-BACK]

How exactly do you guys use them? Separate skins for your tarp & your hammock? Or both stuffed in there together?

As Slowhike suggested my skins are oversized a little. They are made from some 1.1 oz DWR olive drab Wally World $1.00/yd fabric. Everything except my tarp goes in them...hammock, netting, sleepingbag(hammock overbag), and undercover. I roll my undercover around the entire bundle and them slide the skins in place. My sleeping bag down is only under moderate compression. My straps come off and and this bundle is placed in the bottom of my pack.
My tarp is packed seperately so that I can set it up first if it is raining. Someone here (sorry, I can't remember who. Or is it whom? Anyway...), a while back, came up with the idea of using a single long skin for their tarp. I tried it and was sold. Every morning I used to fight with the air that always seemed to get trapped in the middle of my tarp as I tried to skin it from each end. By sliding the skin from one end to the other it pushes all the air out as it covers the tarp. On windy days, after hanging the ridgeline, I just slide the skin half way off and secure one end and then remove it completely to stake the other. I keeps me from having to fight with a sail in the wind. My tarp, stakes, and straps are packed in an outside pocket along with my ground sheet. That way everything can stay somewhat dry as I get my tarp rigged. This system has served me well so far but I am always on the lookout for the next great idea! YMMV.

[Ramblinrev]

I am not sure of the best avenue to use with my HH. The tarp is very nice attached to the support lines, but it does mean it is easier to skin the whole kit than try to set up individual tarp then hammock. In addition the way the skins go on, the tarp pretty much covers the hammock in the roll. I haven't had to set up in foul weather yet so I am not sure how the theory works in practice. I hadn't considered staking one end while leaving the other skinned. That is a very good idea. I felt like I was parasailing while trying to get my daughters skeeter-beeter up in a mild breeze. I'm still working out the storage issues for that set up.